Larry Lucchino to step down as Red Sox president and CEO

Longtime Boston Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino will step down by the end of 2015.

The 69-year-old Lucchino's contract with the team expires at the end of the year. The Boston Heraldreports Red Sox executive vice president and CEO Sam Kennedy will replace him, formally assuming the role of president at the end of October. As of now, the CEO job will remain unfilled.

"The truth is Sam is an important part of this puzzle,“ Lucchino told the Herald. “He's been working for me for 20 years, right out of college. He's certainly my choice, as well as that of John [Henry, Red Sox owner] and Tom [Werner, chairman], to be promoted to the position of president."

The team hopes to keep Lucchino involved with the team on a lesser basis. He's worked for the Red Sox since 2002, when he joined the club from the San Diego Padres. He played a major role in both Red Sox business and baseball operations and notably, the renovation of Fenway Park. In the winter, he was involved in a motorcycle accident that has reduced his everyday role with the Red Sox and likely contributed to the front office changes.

“We are hopeful and confident that we will conclude an agreement with Larry going forward where he will continue to be an integral part of upper management,” Werner told the Herald. “He will have less of an everyday role but he will continue to have an important strategic role not just with the Red Sox but also within Major League Baseball.”

Kennedy, 42, is a native of Brookline, Mass. and has reportedly been courted by major sports franchises about top executive roles since 2009. He joined the Red Sox organization in 2002, coming with Lucchino from San Diego.

Lucchino on stepping down as CEO of Red Sox: "I'll be 70 in September. That's sort of why I'm ready to step back.''